A widely used type of electrical connector comprises a molded plastic housing having a plurality of terminal receiving cavities extending into one of its faces. The cavities and the terminals which are inserted into the cavities have interengaging means for retaining the terminals within the cavities after insertion. The interengaging means commonly comprises a lance on the terminal and a shoulder in the cavity against which the lance bears after insertion. Insertion thus merely requires that the terminal be moved into the cavity until the terminal lance engages the cavity shoulder. The insertion operation is usually carried out by hand, although some automatic insertion machines can be used under some circumstances. U.S. application Ser. No. 154,745, filed Feb. 10, 1988 describes an insertion apparatus which is capable of picking up individual terminals which have been crimped onto wires and moving the terminals along a precisely predetermined path so that if the housing is located on the path, the terminal will be inserted into a cavity in the housing.
It is essential, in automatic insertion operations, that the connector housing be precisely located relative to the path of movement of terminal in order that the terminal will move into the cavity and will not be moved against the surface of the housing. Additionally, it is necessary to index or move the housing after each insertion operation and bring a vacant cavity in the housing into alignment with the terminal insertion apparatus. In some instances, there is a further complication in that the housing may be provided with two or more rows of cavities which require the terminals in one row to be in one orientation and the terminals in the other row to be in a second orientation. Under such circumstances, the housing must be reoriented after the cavities in the one row have been filled. It will thus be apparent that the requirements for an electrical connector work holder go far beyond the requirements of a relatively simple static work holder which is intended to support a part while a single operation is being performed thereon such as a drilling operation.
The present invention is directed to the achievement of an improved work holder for electrical connectors which is intended for use with a robotic device and which is capable of holding an electrical connector, or a pluarlity of electrical connectors, in a predetermined position while terminals are inserted into the cavities of the connector. The invention is further directed to the achievement of a work holder which is capable of picking up a connector which has been delivered to a loading station, transporting the connector to a terminal insertion station, reorienting the connetor at the insertion station, and indexing (in cooperation with a robot) the position of the connector to bring the cavities therein into alignment with an insertion apparatus.